No Land Grab

Atlantic Yards Development by Charles Sweeney (charles@brooklyneagle.net), published online 02-08-2005   PARK SLOPE -- Tonight, an old church in the heart of Park Slope will serve as the latest stop on the “tour of neighborhoods” undertaken by opponents of the Atlantic Yards development plan.

At tonight’s meeting at Old First Reformed Church on Seventh Avenue, the contentious issues surrounding Forest City Ratner’s (FCR) redevelopment plan will be aired and an alternate vision for the area will be presented.

Critics contend the FCR plan, if realized, would “destroy the character of the neighborhood, put a strain on the existing infrastructure, cause traffic problems and, with the considerable subsidies at the state and city level for the developers, engender huge taxpayer losses,” according to Jezra Kaye of Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn (DDDB), a group opposing FCR’s plan.

(See Borough President Marty Markowitz’s “State of the Borough” on page 4 for a different view of the arena controversy.)

Marshal Brown, an urban designer from Fort Greene who worked on the alternate plan said, “We’re not just interested in this particular site, we’re interested in using this as a model for how development can be done cooperatively by bringing everyone to the table in the beginning.”

Brown is critical not only of FCR’s plan for the site, but how the plan came about.

“There’s been no independent review,” Brown pointed out. “City planning has not done their job. The developer doesn’t even want to go through the Uniformed Land-Use Review Process (ULURP).”

He places the blame for this circumvention of checks and balances squarely on the shoulders of the city’s politicians. “The fact is it’s their responsibility to do their job to enforce the system,” Brown said. “I hope the mayor and the governor and the borough president are more responsible for the process. They need to say yes, we will go before ULURP, no we won’t allow eminent domain abuse for sports and entertainment uses.”

The alternative Unity Plan eliminates the sports arena and calls for a higher percentage of affordable housing, more green space and more storefront retail space. It’s (the arena) only 800,000 square feet,” Brown said. “The entire proposal is 7.6 million square feet. The arena is only 10 percent of the project. I call it a ‘Trojan Horse,’” Brown joked.

Brown will present the plan to the public in Park Slope himself. “Everyone should get something out of it,” he said of the proposed development.

Coalition of Groups Tours Areas

While this will not be the first time the Unity Plan will be presented to the public, supporters feel they have to reach out to as many people as possible if they hope to compete with the millions spent on public relations and lobbying by FCR.

The groups decided to tour the affected neighborhoods “to present to communities the changes that such large-scale development can bring,” according to Jezra Kaye, of DDDB. “Some people understand well, others are not noticing how deeply this will impact them.”

“This is our first time in Park Slope,” said Eric McClure, a spokesperson for Park Slope Neighbors (PSN). “This is an update for the people of the neighborhood, what the plans are.”

Asked about a recent announcement that FRC would be reducing the amount of office space in the current plan, adding more housing, PSN’s McClure was unimpressed.

“They might be doing that because they think it would be easier to fill,” he said. “They’ve had problems filling MetroTech.”

This second-guessing of motives and the general air of cynicism, while always a part of real estate development in the city in the past, seems to have reached a new level in the battle over the Atlantic Yards.

DDDB’s Kaye criticizes the lack of public input into a decision to turn public land over to a developer who she believes has shown little interest in neighborhood concerns.

On one side, Kaye sees the forces of the real-estate lobby with allies in Albany and City Hall; and on the other, ad-hoc groups like DDDB and PSN.

“This deal has been carefully crafted to insure that only three people need to approve it for it to go through,” Kaye said. “Governor Pataki, (NYS Assembly) Speaker Silver and the mayor.”

Kaye explained the process of handing over the development rights: “The MTA agrees to give up the rail yards, the Empire State Development Corporation takes control of the process and awards Ratner the development rights, and the mayor signs away rights of review.”

Study Critical of Ratner Plan

Does the Unity Plan really have a chance?

In light of the political wrangling required to get the project under way, what chance does an alternate plan have, even one put together by talented, well-meaning but otherwise under funded professionals donating their spare time?

Toward this end, Kaye points to an economic viability study released in June 2004.

The study was self-funded by a Jung Kim, a Ph.D. from Columbia University, and Gustav Peebles, a former city employee with a masters in economics from London School of Economics.

The results of the study question the contention that FCR’s development plan is economically viable.

In an executive summary, the study concludes, “In addition to the $449.34 million the city and state are giving outright to the project, the developer (FCR) will utilize the threat of eminent domain to obtain land that the developer could readily buy on the open market.”

It is this definition of “eminent domain” that critics contend has been misused.

Something Will Be Built

“It’s safe to say that someone will develop there,” Kaye said. “Not necessarily Ratner.”

Even the most ardent opponents of the plan believe that something will be developed at the location.

What they are fighting for is the kind of development they, as residents, will have to live with.

“I’ll say this,” Brown added. “I think the Atlantic Yards site might be the best single piece of coherent property in New York, with its relation to transportation infrastructure, the convergence of so many neighborhoods. Rather than selling the resources short, let’s invest in the city. We want to see something that would benefit the surrounding communities.”

The “Unity Plan” presentation for the Brooklyn Atlantic Yards takes place Monday, 7 p.m. at Old First Reformed Church, 126 Seventh Ave., near Carroll Street.